HELP CENTER

You can start by removing the air intake boot, open the throttle and view guide with boroscope. If guide is bronze, the answer is “yes”, you need guides. Another option will be performing a leak down test, check engine build date on rear of cylinder head. If ’94 or ’95 and not already done, you need guides. Remember oil fouled spark plugs can mean oil over fill, don’t jump to the conclusion of guides too quickly.

Unfortunately, 355 exhaust manifolds experience a short life. Under that compact heat shield is an art of tightly woven tuned pipes. After a hard drive the pipes have gone from nearly molten steel to cold. Expanding and contracting eventually welding themselves together and breaking apart creating a breach in the pipe. Remember before jumping to the conclusion this is what happened, ensure all the fasteners securing the manifold to the cylinder head are present and tight.

Here are some solutions you can try to do it yourself: If the top begins to fold back and stops itself half way, make sure the second bow’s elastic straps are pulling the bow back into the folding position. If the seats go forward (usually one further than normal) then stop and top operation comes to a halt. The potentiometer is one of the seats has failed. If a gurgling noise is present and the top stops partially thru its cycle and beeps the reservoir is low. If nothing happens at all ensure the doors are closed, the park brake is on, the key is on and the top is unlatched from the windscreen and pulled back until it beeps.

Age. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever replaced your tires due to dry rot, yet they still have tread? It is the same situation with rubber belts. Rubber has a short shelf life. As rubber ages it looses elasticity and becomes brittle. Most modern vehicles have higher compression\interference motors, which means that if the timing belt breaks or jumps time the pistons and valves will hit each other causing thousands of dollars worth of damage. In the end you will do the timing belt service and unnecessary engine work.

Not all vehicles require premium unleaded fuel. Refer to your owners manual to find the manufacturers recommended octane for your specific engine design. Example: Higher compression engines including supercharged/turbocharged engines require higher octane fuel. A higher octane fuel slows the burn or explosion in the engine. Higher compression engines detonate (knock under load) if the burn occurs to quickly. (This would be the same as too much spark advance) Several other variables are considered during manufacturers testing. Moral of the story is TRUST YOUR OWNERS MANUAL!

This is normal per the manufacturer, as you will see in your owners manual. Your brake/hydraulic leveling system is designed to store a metered volume of pressurized fluid (reserve) in the accumulators. Overnight, the pressure bleeds down requiring recharge upon start up. (After 3 or 4 days of sitting you may also notice your suspension is very low, this is caused by the same bleed of pressure back into the hydraulic reservoirs. A start up with a little bit of idle time will solve this baring no problems are present in the system.) If the light stays on longer than normal (three plus minutes), all the time, or a shorter period than normal (shorter than ten seconds) service is required.

Due to pollution, our government forced manufacturers to develop cleaner exhaust emissions from vehicles. Old fashion vented fuel caps allowed fuel to evaporate and escape the vehicle into the atmosphere. Today’s fuel systems are totally sealed and able to handle expansion and contraction. This is closely monitored by the vehicle’s computer. A pressure sensor recognizes low pressure and will in turn set a check engine light. It is also able to tell the difference between a large and small leak.

Most fluid storage devices on vehicles such as; engines, fluid reservoirs, gearboxes etc, are vented to the atmosphere. This allows small quantities of contaminants to enter, such as humidity. For example: if you were to leave a clear fluid out on a bench in your garage for two weeks, what is going to happen? The fluid will turn a different color usually dark and will collect moisture. Over time this will take affect on the fluids in your vehicle. This is why it is recommended to change your fluids by time not just mileage.